Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, researched symptoms of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome days before death, records show

Authorities on Tuesday released a lengthy investigation report detailing some of the last emails, phone calls and internet searches by Gene Hackman‘s wife, Betsy Arakawa, in the days before her death, indicating that she was scouring for information on flu-like symptoms and breathing techniques.

Arakawa died in February of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — a rare, rodent-borne disease that can led to a range of symptoms that include flu-like illness, headaches, dizziness and severe respiratory distress, investigators have said. Hackman is believed to have died about a week later of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

According to the report released Tuesday, a review of Arakawa’s computer showed she was actively researching medical conditions related to COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms between Feb. 8 and the morning of Feb. 12. The searches included questions about whether COVID could cause dizziness or nosebleeds.

She also had mentioned in an email to her masseuse that Hackman had woken up Feb. 11 with flu or cold-like symptoms but that a COVID test was negative and she would have to reschedule her appointment for the next day “out of an abundance of caution.” 

Arakawa’s search history also showed a query for a concierge medical service in Santa Fe on the morning of Feb. 12. A review of her phone records by investigators showed she had a call with the service that lasted less than 2 minutes and missed a return call later that afternoon.

Earlier this month, a court cleared the way for the release of investigative records from the deaths of Hackman and Arakawa, as long as depictions of the deceased couple are blocked from view.

Body camera footage released by authorities Tuesday showed officers searching the couple’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on Feb. 26 and finding the partially mummified remains of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, after maintenance and security workers showed up at the home and alerted police. One of the redacted videos shows one of their dogs sitting in the bathroom near Arakawa’s body. The German shepherd was “guarding her,” one of the sheriff’s deputies told another in the video.

As sheriff’s deputies and investigators tried to piece together what had happened, they walked around the house to where they said Hackman was found dead.

“Two totally separate areas of the house,” an officer comments.

“Mhm, it’s strange,” another responds.

The officers, worried about a possible gas leak, then began opening doors and windows around the house. Subsequent testing showed there were no leaks. 

Another video showed investigators searching through the house for the couple’s ID’s. 

Investigators also reviewed a call history to the Hackmans’ home phone along with voicemails and security footage from stores that Arakawa had visited on Feb. 11.

The footage shows them going through rooms of the home and finding nothing out of the ordinary and no signs of forced entry, with the couple’s art collection still adorning shelves and walls throughout. The investigators also can be seen counting cash that was found around the home and looking at the prescription medication on the bathroom counter as one of the couple’s dog barked in the background.

An earlier court order temporarily restricted the release of all photos, videos and documents from the investigation after a representative for the Hackman family estate urged a New Mexico judge to keep the records sealed to protect the family’s constitutional right to privacy.

A report by the New Mexico Department of Health showed an environmental assessment of the Hackman property found rodent feces in several outbuildings and live traps on the property. The inside of the home was clean, with no evidence of rodent activity.

Nestled among the piñon and juniper hills overlooking Santa Fe, the Hackman home is not unlike others in the area as mice are common within the surrounding landscape.

While hantavirus infections are rare, New Mexico’s chief medical investigator, Dr. Heather Jarrell, noted the strain in the Southwest has a high mortality rate of about 38-50%.

One of the couple’s three dogs also was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, while two other dogs were found alive. A state veterinary lab tied the dog’s death to dehydration and starvation.

An attorney for the estate, Kurt Sommer, argued during a hearing last month that the couple had taken great pains to stay out of the public light during their lifetimes and that the right to control the use of their names and likenesses should extend to their estate in death.

The Associated Press, CBS News and CBS Studios intervened in the matter, saying in court filings that they would not disseminate images of the couple’s bodies and would blur images to obscure them from other records.